The Remnants of Early 2000s Fashion
The 2000’s–– what a pivotal moment in time. From the Heelys to the Winx Club, some of my most enjoyable childhood memories took place in the 2000s. It allowed us to make questionable fashion choices that brought out our inner Britney Spears. You might even want to forget these choices or they may seem like a distant memory; however, its remnants have never left our lives.
The 2000s gave us the creative space to experiment with clothing like never before. You could be whoever you wanted, whenever you wanted. Brands like Juicy Couture and Baby Phat only emphasized the experience: anyone could be a life-size Bratz Doll. Their velour tracksuits blurred the line between casual wear and athletic wear, popularizing athleisure. Although velour tracksuits existed before the 2000s, they had not tapped into mainstream media. When Nas wore an orange velour tracksuit for his Stillmatic album cover, celebrities everywhere joined the tracksuit craze: it could be seen on Jay Z, Diddy, Paris Hilton, and Kimora Lee Simons, some of them even went on to start their own collections. Everyone owned one and everyone loved them, but as trends emerge, trends die. The “once-trendy” velour tracksuits were fazed out for a period of time. However, recently celebrities like the Kardashians and Rihanna have been paying homage to the snazzy tracksuits, by wearing and selling them. Their outreach has been so massive that even Juicy Couture has started reselling their OG tracksuits.
Social media has a heavy influence on the trends that go around and this is especially true in the day and age of TikTok. During the pandemic, many of us spend a lot of time on TikTok. I think it’s fair to say that you might have stumbled across a fashion aesthetic Tiktok at least once. Y2K fashion is one of the most popular clothing trends that have caught on the app. Ironically on January 1, 2000, the name Y2K came from the fear that technology would take over and now, here we are popularizing the name through it. This combination of dressing like a Bratz doll and a mean girl is nothing less than iconic. The bright colors and retro accessories are trending so widely, they strongly fuel the reselling app, Depop. You can find anything from butterfly clips, cropped tank tops, low rise jeans, and all types of mini purses.
From the high-end designer brands to your go-to shops, logomania is everywhere. Logomania is one of the very few trends that have never left, you can find it on the purses at Louis Vuitton or the hot Cheetos branded shirts at Forever 21. For many companies, logomania helped their brand peak in the 2000s. In particular, Von Dutch was all the rage: you could catch Halle Berry or Dennis Rodman in one of their trucker hats at red carpets or coffee runs. Their logo was slapped everywhere for everyone to see. As a result, people eventually grew tired and that was the end for the notorious hats. Christian Audigier, the creator of Von Dutch, had abandoned the company and it was the last anyone heard from the company. Yet, when Kylie Jenner dusted off her hat and put it back on, the brand saw a resurgence. Meghan thee Stallion, Dababy, Jordyn Woods, and Saweetie, all put on their trucker hats and others followed along.
Trends come and go, but the best ones always return. Fashion and trends are evolving things, who knows, velour tracksuits with flashy accessories might become everyday attire for teenagers. The 2000s have returned, and their glory days have yet to come.